evmori

Nah. I pass my prize on to the runner up!

In my experience, most CO's are in name only. It would seem to me if we need better trained leaders, it has to start with the CO. But if the CO hasn't attended the council training, therein lies the problem. Ed Mori 1 Peter 4:10

BW isn't in the NE region. Well, if the solution is to choose better people to be adult leaders instead of taking all comers, the local councils better get up to speed on their CO training because the CO is the one responsible for choosing the adult leaders. What did I win? Ed Mori 1 Peter 4:10(This message has been edited by evmori)

I musta missed that thread OGE. John, yep I do think we agree. maybe we need to look at this from the top down starting at the council level & not the bottom up. After all, isn't the council responsible for the CO training & isn't the CO responsible for selecting the leaders for the unit(s) they sponsor? Ed Mori 1 Peter 4:10

I win! What do I win? YIPPIIIIEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! Seems this falls back on the CO since they are the ones that are supposed to be choosing the adult leaders. Then maybe it goes back to the council for not ensuring the CO is more than in name only. What should the unit do? Well, when I was SM, all the ASM's & committee members were required to attend training for their role in the unit. Until they did, they were kept on a short leash. Ed Mori 1 Peter 4:10

This is off topic but I think it begs to be here. If units are populated with volunteers that aren't interested in learning the Scouting problem, it would seem the CO is the one dropping the ball & then maybe it's the council not doing enough to ensure the CO is more involved than in name only. Ed Mori 1 Peter 4:10

I'm gonna use all mine to get all those Scouting publications I don't have & I'm gonna read them all!

I love multiple choice questions! I usually get them wrong, though. Too many choices! I'll take 30%, Bob! What do I win? Ed Mori 1 Peter 4:10

I just think the idea of having all meds stored at the summer camp health office is just a disaster waiting to happen. Most summer camps don't have a licensed health officer 24/7. Ed Mori 1 Peter 4:10

Ideally, don't we want the SPL to come to the SM & say "Mr Scoutmaster, I would like to discuss my plan for breaking camp in the morning." Once we get to this point, we have succeeded. How we get there will differ from Scout to Scout and unit to unit. Ed Mori 1 Peter 4:10

A TEMPORARY drop in units certainly. A major loss in youth members, doubtful, they woiuld simply transfer to heathier units in most cases. A loss of leaders yes, but odds are a loss of untrained leaders. Who said the unit wasn't healthy? Just because the CO is a CO in name only in no way indicates an unhealthy unit. Nor does it indicate untrained leaders. I think there would be a large loss of unit as well as Scouts. Yep some will catch on with other units but there will be a decline in total membership. Ed Mori 1 Peter 4:10

Bob, I know you've been away from scouter.com for a while, but public schools can no longer charter packs or troops. Maybe but the PTA or PTO or parent group or band boosters can.

A charter organization that does not support their programs does not deserve those programs, and the leaders and the scouts should join a unit where they are supported as part of the CO's program. If this took place, there would be a major drop in units and members. The reality is most CO's are in name only. It is not the responsibility of the unit volunteers to get the CO up to speed. That is the job of the local council. Ed Mori 1 Peter 4:10

No unit ever failed because of having a strong CO and trained leaders who followed the program. Absolutes are rarely true but I will accept there is some fact in this statement. The assumption is the CO is very involved with the unit it charters. I would bet this is not as common as one would think. I would bet most CO's are in name only & devote little if any time to the unit they charter. Now you can have an uninvolved CO & very well trained leaders. And you can have a very successful unit this way. A strong CO doesn't mean the leaders will be well trained just as well trained leaders doesn't mean there is a strong CO. Ed Mori 1 Peter 4:10

Maybe the fault of all this falls on the CO. They are the ones who should be selecting the leaders for the unit they charter. When I signed on as a Cubmaster, I was recruited by the CC from the Pack, not the CO. Same thing happened when I moved on to Boy Scouts. And I would bet this happens more than some want to admit. So maybe, instead of blaming the unit leaders on running such a poor program, we should be directing our anger toward the CO's! Ed Mori 1 Peter 4:10

Well if the cleaning the cabin was a fictional situation, how does one explain Look at how much more polite the SPL was when I talked to him as opposed when you talked to him. I would guess that you wrote based on your experience just as I wrote based on mine. In my case the SPL was courteous because I was courteous to him. Guess this isn't a fictional situation. Ed Mori 1 Peter 4:10

No telling in my example and I don't think anyone is discussing the hows of clean-up. You can't determine if someone is "polite" in any of these examples! They are your words & my words not the SPL's words! At least my post was. Could be rebellion jrblake. But if it is, that would indicate a lack of maturity to me. Ed Mori 1 Peter 4:10

Actually, if ya look at the membership numbers over the last eight years you would notice they are pretty stable. I would agree with Beav to some extent as to the reason there is little movement in the membership numbers. I would add there are a lot more things available for kids to do now. Sports are no longer seasonal & video games suck up a ton of time! When we were growing up, we didn't need daytimers! Some kids have them today! And let's not forget the parents who want little Johnny to "get" everything he deserves. Ed Mori 1 Peter 4:10

I am saying that if the CO selected a person who di not have the ability to teach others then they made a bad selection for scoutmaster and expecting the BSA to change their programs to accomodate poor leader selections is not a good solution. Would a CO select such a person? In the real world it probably isn't the CO who is doing the selecting. A good teacher can teach almost anything. Maybe not as good as a teacher specifically trained on a particular subject, but well enough to make the concepts of the subject understandable & learnable to the students. A good teacher also knows how to motivate. I'm with ya on the fad training Beav. I've been through a lot of fad training at my POE & most of it is just a rehash of other training with new buzz words. Ed Mori 1 Peter 4:10

And the SPL in my example had completed Troop Leadership Development Training, too, which is why I would leave him to his own devises. Oh and I mis-stated when I posted I would tell him he is responsible. I meant to post remind him he is responsible. If it's time to leave & the stoves still are in need of cleaning, I would hope the SPL has the Scouts who were assigned to clean the stoves clean them & the SPL would be sitting in the car waiting. Or I would be OK with the SPL giving the Scouts assigned to clean the stove the stoves to take home & clean & return the next Troop meeting. A SPL who has been on campouts AND completed Troop Leadership Development Training should know the routine even if this is his 1st campout as SPL. He has seen this done by other SPL's & the training reinforced it. Ed Mori 1 Peter 4:10

Well, if cabin clean-up was on the agenda, then I would expect the SPL to ensure it was completed. Like you Bob, I would check in & see if things were getting done. If things were not being completed in a timely fashion, I would pull the SPL aside & remind him of our pre-determined departure time & let him know he is responsible for the Scouts getting done what they need to get done before we have our Sunday service & pull out for home. Ed Mori 1 Peter 4:10

Great examples, Bob! Instead of telling the SPL what to do, you let him tell you what we has going to do. But what if when you ask "what are we doing afetr breakfast in the morning?" the SPL answers "going home". So naturally you respond by saying "sure we are, but what needs to be done before we leave?" and the SPL responds "I guess we have to pack up." and you respond by asking "anything else?" and he says "no". Ed Mori 1 Peter 4:10(This message has been edited by evmori)

Why would you want to draw more kids to a Cub Scout Pack? To get them involved in Scouting & to maintain the Pack! I would bet a lot of CO's fit the description DenZero presented. Ed Mori 1 Peter 4:10

I would say laser tag is now allowed! If it isn't listed as banned it is allowed! Another unit activity!

The previous version of the G2SS included the word lasers. Now it is gone. If you do a search on lasers you will find none.